It’s beginning to look alot like Christmas…

Christmas is here again and to celebrate we are launching our Christmas live music channels and adding a pinch of Christmas spice to the Pop, Mellow Pop and Jazz channels as well.

If your business is looking for a little Christmas spice in its life then you can get instant access here – Try For Free.

 

New ‘Pride Month’ channel for July…

To celebrate Pride Month 2023 we have launched a new ‘Pride Month’ channel for the month of July, you can tune in now by going to Sign Up for a free 7 day trial.

FREE VIDEO STREAMING…

AURACLE SOUND X ATMOSPHERE TV

Atmosphere TV, a new Auracle Sound partner, is offering an exclusive deal to all our music streaming clients.

Throughout this partnership, you can order an Atmosphere’s TV service with 50+ channels and digital signage all at Zero cost to you.

With over 50,000 businesses worldwide taking advantage of Atmosphere’s TV service, it is a perfect solution for businesses who want to elevate their customer experience.

Atmosphere includes built-in digital signage to promote your services and help you to increase revenue.

There is typically a $199.99 (£150) sign-on fee but by signing up via Auracle Sound, Atmosphere will waive this fee for you.

See how Atmosphere can benefit your business:

  • £0/month when you stream 40+hours/month (+98% of customers meet this criteria every month)
  • 60+ family-friendly, audio-optional channels.
  • Eye-catching, mood-enhancing content
  • No contract
  • No TV license fee

Simply fill out the Atmosphere TV sign up page or email [email protected] to learn more.

 

Our Christmas channels are now live and available across all venues;

Christmas Classical – a selection of carols and classical pieces.

Christmas Classics – Vintage classics from the 50’s to current day.

Christmas Pop – The latest current Christmas Pop Hits.

Christmas Mixed – A mix of Christmas music and contemporary songs building up from 1 in 10 to 5 in 10 as the festival period progresses.

Merry Christmas from Auracle Sound.

A special one off 50% discount for 10 lucky customers today only!

Enter the coupon:BlackFriday50 at the Checkout to receive a 50% discount on your monthly or annual subscription.

 

You want to offer the best experience to your customers. For this,  you plan on playing some background music to create the perfect atmosphere, but you don’t know the rules for playing music on your business premises.

Or maybe you already use your Spotify or YouTube account with your own playlists, but you wonder if this is legal.

Should you worry about copyrights?

After reading this article, you will know what is legal or not and how to get commercially licensed music.

 

Do I need a license to play music in my business?

The short answer is yes, you need to use commercially licensed music to play music on your business premises.

Why do you need to pay for licensed music?

Because unlicensed services do not pay the songwriters, musicians, labels, and publishers of the songs you hear in-store.

As a professional yourself, you will agree that work needs to get rewarded. Hence, artists who create the music you want to play should benefit from their work.

Every time their music is played anywhere near the fees commercial subscription-based services pay in dubbing fees for every track and performance fees for each venue and zone they supply.

These new revenue streams from the retail, hospitality and leisure industries help musicians in the current world where they only get paid a fraction of the old CD sales income from domestic streaming services.

This drop in artist incomes has seen the reforming of many bands going on tour to boost their sales with ticket income and merchandise as their music is pirated online and in the face of diminishing returns from streaming services.

Radio, TV, and commercially licensed music streaming services are the remaining revenue streams for music artists and are critical to their survival.

Hence it is vital to understand the difference between truly licensed commercial background music services like Auracle Sound and unlicensed domestic music services like Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, Deezer, Tidal etc.

   

Why you should not use Spotify, iTunes or YouTube

Like any private subscription music streaming platform, they are not suitable for public performance.

Many UK businesses consider that domestic services like Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, Deezer, Napster and so on are licensed for public performance.

This is incorrect as you can see from these companies’ own Terms & Conditions, their service is for personal use only:

Spotify

“As specified in our Terms & Conditions, Spotify Free and Premium accounts are for personal, non-commercial use only.”

iTunes

“You shall be authorised to use iTunes Products only for personal, non-commercial use. For details of your rights and restrictions on your rights to use the iTunes.”

Napster

“The Services provided through the Application may be used for your personal, non-commercial use only. You agree not to (i) reproduce, record, retransmit, redistribute, disseminate, sell, rent, lend, broadcast, make available, communicate to the public, publicly perform…”

 

This means that if you use those services to play music on your business, you will both breach contract with them and infringe the copyright law.

This is not a situation you want to be in.

 

What happens if I stream music in my store without paying for licenses?

To hop on that, what are the risks if you don’t follow the T&Cs and the law?

For the streaming services, you may get your account closed. If you breach the contract, they block your access. Annoying but fair.

You would do the same if one of your customers didn’t respect your T&Cs.

But the risk is much bigger when it comes to infringing The Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

Let’s make it clear by citing the UK government: “You’re infringing copyright if you play live or recorded music in public without a licence. You could be sued for damages.”

Note: this also applies if you stream the music you have personally purchased as a download or CD. The license is for personal use only.

 

How much could you be fined for playing music illegally?

It depends on several factors, but small businesses have been fined several thousand pounds. For example, a bar in London has been fined £19k with a prison warning.

The famous fitness brand Peleton has been sued for $300 million for playing unlicensed music.

 

How can I legally avoid paying for a music license?

It is possible, but you may not want to. Let’s see why.

You have mostly three options to play music for free:

  1. use public-domain music
  2. use royalty-free music
  3. play the radio

Let’s discuss those options.

Public domain music is all music composed before 1922. This is essentially classical music, from Brahms to Mozart. Although it is nice to be able to play this music genre freely, it might not be the best fit for your business.

Royalty-free music, on the other hand, can be of any style. But you won’t find famous artists there, and the quality of the music is variable.

Lastly, playing the radio will give you access to the latest hits. But mostly that, over and over. And you will have to cope with advertisements or speakers. 

In the end, those solutions don’t give you much control over the atmosphere you want to create. And as a business-savvy person, you know that customers buy more or return when they have a good experience with you.

It may thus be wise to invest in a custom playlist. Your customers and your accountant will be happier.

 

How do I get commercially licensed music?

So now that you understand the importance of using commercially licensed music for your business, what should you do?

You could get a license to play music from an official music licensing organisation. The problem is that you may have to pay different fees for different types of licenses. It can be confusing, and you may be fined even if you paid for a license.

A better option is to use a specialized streaming service such as AuracleSound.

If you would like to get the latest music, fully licensed for public performance, and never risk any legal issues, get here a free one week trial.

 

 

 

HER MAJESTY QUEEN ELIZABETH II
21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022

We join with the nation in mourning following the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. We extend our deepest sympathies to His Majesty The King and all members of the Royal Family.

The longest reigning British monarch, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II led a life of selfless and generous service to the nation.

We continue to serve the Crown Estate with licensed music streaming services at both Princes Arcade in Piccadilly and the new The Savill Garden Visitor Centre in Windsor Great Park.

 

Auracle Sound Ltd. has launched a new Remote Control Android App on Google Play to allow customers to control their IP audio hardware devices wirelessly on the same IP address.

 

About this app

Easily control Auracle Sound hardware players from a WiFi Android tablet over the LAN:
• switch between channels and playlists
• add multiple devices

The app uses the telnet protocol which must be enabled on your Auracle hardware device, please email [email protected] to have this remotely enabled.

Future developments include;
• Volume control
• Track info display
• ‘Like/dislike’ button

Updated on
Aug 30, 2022

English - Help Center

Singa x Auracle Sound in-App Karaoke Background Music Partnership

Auracle Sound have partnered with Singa Business Karaoke Systems to create a unique in-App commercially licensed background music solution for their Karaoke App.

Between stage performances from the Karaoke singers the Singa iOS App automatically falls back to the venue’s chosen Auracle Sound music channel to provide background music to the venue.

The Auracle Sound integration is one of Singa’s ‘Pro’ features along with the iPad App, Scheduler, Featured Venue, Customer and Marketing Support.

Thanks to Auracle Sound there are now no uncomfortable silences between songs or manual mixing, so there is no better time to add Karaoke to your bar. Increase footfall and customer spend by offering Karaoke nights at your venue now, speak to the Singa sales team here